LOW LIGHT PLANTS HELP PLEASE!!

[PopPopsfish]

:help:Hi,
We are looking for some suggestions for low light plants in our tank, we are going to make a 125 or 150 gallon show tank which will include Amazon sword babies that we have raised and lots of Angels.So the plants must be able to tolerate temperatures ranging 80F-86F and be able to thrive in a lower PH of 6.5 to 7.0. I don't want to have to use CO2 if I can get away with it but I will consider it if necessary.

As far as lights, I plan to make our own using those compact florescent bulbs . I figured 2 watts per gallon @6500k day light ( 4/ 60 Watt bulbs.)

Is this enough for low light plants? In a 125 gallon tank

What kind of substrate will be the best to use as a starting layer under the BB sized gravel we plan on using?

I was thinking tall grass, moss to build a weeping wall. I don't really know I will leave it up to you all.

Thanks,
Pops/Pa.

[west1]

:help:Hi,
We are looking for some suggestions for low light plants in our tank, we are going to make a 125 or 150 gallon show tank which will include Amazon sword babies that we have raised and lots of Angels.So the plants must be able to tolerate temperatures ranging 80F-86F and be able to thrive in a lower PH of 6.5 to 7.0. I don't want to have to use CO2 if I can get away with it but I will consider it if necessary.

As far as lights, I plan to make our own using those compact florescent bulbs . I figured 2 watts per gallon @6500k day light ( 4/ 60 Watt bulbs.)

Is this enough for low light plants? In a 125 gallon tank

What kind of substrate will be the best to use as a starting layer under the BB sized gravel we plan on using?

I was thinking tall grass, moss to build a weeping wall. I don't really know I will leave it up to you all.

Thanks,
Pops/Pa.

Some might diss-agree with me, but it worked AWSOME for me!!!

I bought pond fertalizer and put this on the bottom of my tank (I put enought so that you could see the bottom of the tank, but enought that you could see the fert. from about 20ft away). then I got sand from the beach and cleaned it realy, realy good. I baked the sand for 3hrs, then washed it again.
Once I was satisfied, I added 1" worth of sand over the fert. The last part is, I added the gravel that I wanted (about 2" deep) over the 2 layers (try to thin out the sand next to the walls of the tank, so you can cover it up with your selection of gravel. So you can not see any of the underlayers).
The trick of this is the cleaning (H2o changes) of the gravel. I used to use a syphon and stuck it in the gravel deep enought so it would not touch the sand.

and thats how I got my Anubias growing quick and with 1 18watt light in my 150gl. Later I added other plants, like some swards and they started to spread out with in 3months (I bought them at about 4-5" tall). I gave them away when they were about 10" tall probly about 6months after I bought them.

I will say that I know slim to little about plants though:wall::grinyes:
Hope this helps

Oh yeah... never had C02 stuff or anything fancy, just exactly what I mentioned

[BoredAgain]

As far as lights, I plan to make our own using those compact florescent bulbs . I figured 2 watts per gallon @6500k day light ( 4/ 60 Watt bulbs.)
No one makes a 60 watt CFL. What you are most likely referring to is the incandescent equivalent. So a 14 watt CFL produces the same light output as a 60 watt incandescent, but it's still only 14 watts. You need more bulbs...I currently have 8 CFLs over a 55g.

[pinkertd]

All kinds of crypts and there's a ton of varieties, anubias (especialy the larger leaf plants), hygro will all be happy with those conditions. There are others, but these are my favorites and my temps are 84-86F.

[msjinkzd]

I vote for crypts and anubias.

[StereoKills]

:iagree: Also Java Fern or just about any moss will grow well in low light. The tall grassy style plants usually need a higher light than you have.

[PopPopsfish]

No one makes a 60 watt CFL. What you are most likely referring to is the incandescent equivalent. So a 14 watt CFL produces the same light output as a 60 watt incandescent, but it's still only 14 watts. You need more bulbs...I currently have 8 CFLs over a 55g.

Thanks for clearing that up, I was under the impression a 60 watt equivalent was the same as a 60 watt bulb. I will have to do a little more research when constructing our new lights.

As for plant selections : we are going with crypts,anubias and a moss wall.

Thank you all for the good advice. I will pick up a 150 gal @ TFP on April 19th for 150.00 they are on sale and will fit perfectly in the space we created.

We plan to post a step by step new tank thread.

Thanks,
Pops and his Main Squeeze(Nana)

[davcheng]

You can get higher wattage CFL's. I've seen ones that are 24 W (or 25, can't remember) at Wal-Mart which are rated at 100 W incandescent. There are even higher wattage ones online if you want to buy those.

[Mgamer20o0]

i would go with some shop lights. 4 cfl lights in a 150 will be so dim.

they having $1 per gallon or what?

[Plecosterone]

Shop lights are the way to go, cost wise. I only use 2 x 32 watt T8's overdriven 6,700K bulbs in my 90 & 75 gallon tanks and can grow almost anything including hair grass. I do use pressurized Co2 though, and would really consider this if I were you.

[WinnipegDragon]

If you construct a reflector for the CFLs that will help too.

[PopPopsfish]

Thanks All ,
We will pick up the tank on 4/19/08 and it will take a few weeks to set up and cycle so keep the ideas coming . We real appreciate all the help you all can give

Thanks again,
Pops and Nana/Pa.